New schemes to address paedophilla and other child abuse in schools

26/6/97

New initiatives to address paedophilia and other forms of child abuse in Western Australian schools, including compulsory police clearances for students who apply to study for university teaching degrees, have been announced.

The range of initiatives will be implemented by the Education Department of WA as part of a national strategy against paedophilia in schools agreed on by all Australian States and Territories.

Education Minister Colin Barnett told State Parliament today that a review of Education Department files was well under way and further measures were also being put into place.

These included compulsory police checks to be phased-in during the remainder of 1997 so that by 1998 all new employees, or former employees wanting to re-enter the Education Department, would have to provide police clearance.

This would also include:

·         students who applied to study a teaching degree in WA universities, from the upcoming semester two intake, would need to provide police clearance before they were allowed to undertake practical teaching experience as part of their degree;

·         teachers, including new graduates; experienced teachers from interstate or overseas; teachers from the non-Government sector; teachers seeking re-employment; relief teachers and school psychologists, will be required to provide police clearance before being employed by the Education Department; and -

·         all applicants for non-teaching positions in schools, such as registrars, school assistants, library officers, gardeners, teachers aides and Aboriginal education workers, would be required to provide police clearance prior to appointment.

"New employment application forms are being designed which will make it compulsory for applicants for both teaching and non-teaching positions to provide a police clearance when the application is lodged with the Education Department," Mr Barnett said.

"Prospective employees who apply to the department from another State or Territory, who have worked in the non-Government sector, or who have an unexplained gap in their employment record, will have their records checked with the relevant education authority.

"The Education Department has already referred employment applications to other authorities for checking. So far, there have been no adverse findings.

"Any police clearance which indicates a conviction will be referred to an Education Department screening committee for consideration.

"Principals who appoint people to non-teaching positions will be advised on policy and procedures to be followed when filling the positions."

Mr Barnett said that reasonable steps would also be put into place to prevent people with convictions for sexual offences being involved in activities in schools where students could be exposed. This would include people employed by other Government departments or private companies, some of whom were already required to have a police clearance as a condition of their employment.

Mr Barnett said the Education Department was continuing its review of 330 employee files where there had been allegations over the past 10 years of unprofessional behaviour to ensure investigations had reached a satisfactory conclusion.

"As of the beginning of this week, 240 teaching and non-teaching files have been reviewed on the basis that these people were alleged to have carried out some form of misconduct; 45 of these were of a sexual nature," he said.

"The review has shown that the Education Department has been very scrupulous in dealing with allegations in the past. All cases of sexual abuse allegations have been thoroughly and properly investigated."

Mr Barnett said there had been three cases of people who had applied to be employed by the department, but checks had shown a criminal record of a sexual or other offence against a student or child and these people had not been employed.

The review also found:

·         19 employees who have been the subject of a departmental investigation following allegations of improper conduct of a sexual nature. All have been thoroughly investigated. The allegations were not substantiated and no formal warning or penalty was applied by the department. Of these, 13 are currently permanent teachers in schools, five are cleared to teach and one is a non-teacher not currently employed by the department; and -

·         22 employees who have been the subject of a departmental investigation following allegations of child sexual assault or improper conduct of a sexual nature. As a result of proper investigation at the time of the allegation, these people are no longer employed by the department.

The review has also identified one case in which a person who had been convicted of a sexual offence was cleared to teach after a departmental investigation. That person is no longer in direct contact with students.

Mr Barnett said the review process would be on-going and would extend to the examination of all Education Department employee files. This would be an exhaustive and long-term task by a discrete unit within the department.

Information gathered so far has been placed on a database and, under strict guidelines regarding confidentiality, the information will be available to all States and Territories.

"It has also been agreed that the information on the database will be shared between WA's Government and non-Government education sectors on the same basis as it is shared between States," Mr Barnett said.

"The Education Department and other relevant Government agencies, such as Family and Children's Services and Ministry of Justice, continue to liaise on the issue of paedophilia and child abuse, while guidelines are also being developed for schools to use in managing reported incidents of convicted paedophiles or known sex offenders who live near schools."

Mr Barnett said these strategies would be implemented in co-ordination with national procedures as agreed to by all States and Territories earlier this year. "Addressing the issue of paedophilia and child abuse in Western Australian schools is a major priority and since agreement at the national level this year, the Education Department has acted swiftly to initiate the staffing review and implement other measures," he said. Media contact: Justine Whittome, (08) 9222 9699